Summer Lovin'
by SidekickSalohcin
Summary: Takes places after "I see turtles". It's summer, Rigby comes to discover and understand some new feelings towards Eileen, and Eileen resolves to take more initiative in pursuing her feelings towards Rigby.
1. Chapter 1

The energy in the car during the drive home from the turtle hatching bonfire was slowly dying down. After the turtles swept over the beach, the evening consisted of Mordecai and Rigby swapping their perspectives of the "turtle wave", Eileen breaking the ice between CJ and Margaret with some success, and eventually the whole gang laughing and enjoying the summer beach air.

CJ and Mordecai started talking to each other about possibly coming back to the beach for a more peaceful visit, leaving Rigby and Eileen to lean back and shoot the breeze.

"What a day" Rigby yawned "Was it everything you hoped for?"

"You mean besides being held captive and seeing Mother Nature at her most vicious?" Eileen said, leaving a moment of awkward silence to hang in the back of the car before letting out a giggle. "Yes, it was a little scary there for a second but all's well that ends well and I'm pretty sure the turtles will be able to fend off any threats from now on."

"Yeah-yuh they will! They'll be all 'nobody interrupts our ecosystem' then morph into a heavyweight boxer and uppercut some fool into the next ocean!" Rigby exclaimed, acting out the whole scene, earning another giggle from Eileen. "And hey! That was pretty awesome how you rallied them together! You saved them all!" Rigby said with an encouraging grin.

"Thanks Rigby" Eileen returned with a smile and slight blush at the sudden praise. "You were pretty brave yourself, fighting off all those brutes."

"Heh, oh that? Rigby asked a little modestly but then played it off. "No big deal, I wasn't just gonna let those jerks think they can push around people just 'cause they're bigger!"

At this point, Eileen was beaming with admiration. She opened her mouth to speak when the car stopped.

"Your stop, Eileen!" CJ said.

"Oh…" Eileen said, a little disappointed at the abrupt end to the conversation. "Okay, I'll see you guys later."

"I'll help you carry your stuff" Rigby said, jumping out. They both carried her gear in the house and set it all down in the living room. When they were finished Rigby started to make his way to the door.

"Rigby wait" Eileen said before he opened the door. She put her hands on his shoulders "I really want to thank you."

"Like I said, it was really noth-"

"No, not just for that, for everything." She said, drawing him into a tight hug. Rigby returned the hug after a second of registering the quick exchange. "For today, for doing things and coming places with me you usually wouldn't do-"

"Like the Renaissance Fair?"

"Like the Renaissance Fair" she chuckled, looking into his eyes "and supporting me, and always bringing me up."

"You're welcome, Eileen" he smiled sincerely "I'll always have your back."

After a minute more of hugging, they pulled away and opened the door.

"Goodnight Eileen" Rigby gently said.

"Goodnight Rigby" Eileen smiled before going back inside.

He climbed back into the car to see CJ and Mordecai peering at him with wide grins.

"What?" Rigby asked, half-knowing what was about to come.

"Oh, nothing dude" Mordecai said as they both turned around and started heading for the park. Rigby gave a mental sigh of relief at his friends not teasing him. It's not that he didn't want to share his emotional life with his best friend, but the same friend didn't always make it easy to open up. Maybe he'd find a way to have real talk with Mordecai, but for now he'll just appreciate getting off the hook without any teasing. "So you really fought off those goons by yourself?" Mordecai asked with a little smarm. And there it goes, so much for getting off the hook.

"Yeah man! Never saw what hit 'em" He bragged.

"What did hit them?" CJ asked "No offense to you, I can't imagine anyone having enough muscle to take them all down."

"Who said I used muscle?" Rigby answered, a little proud to not be stumped or have to give the run-around "just took a little saaand-boooniiing!"

"Whoa, what?" Mordecai asked. Rigby just gave a 'checkmate' look. "What, did you just slap sand at them?"

"Not just slapped man, sand-boned. Couple clouds to the face and some quick moves kept them busy while Eileen freed the turtles."

"Way to go, Rigby! Eileen was right, you were pretty brave." CJ said, causing Mordecai to snap his head to her in panic.

"Wait…" after a second, it clicked "were you guys eavesdropping?" he wasn't sure whether he should be flattered or upset.

"End of the line!" CJ announced as she parked the car outside the house.

Mordecai and Rigby grabbed their stuff, said good night to CJ, and made their way to their room. They dumped everything on the floor and sat down on their respective bed and trampoline to get settled down for the night. The fatigue of the day caught up with Rigby as soon as he plopped down on his clothes pile. He was about to start burrowing when Mordecai spoke up.

"Hey dude, sorry for eavesdropping, me and CJ heard you two get excited all of a sudden and had to see what was up"

'Oh okay. So they weren't like spying' Rigby reasoned to himself. "It's cool man. You shoulda seen the way I juggled those suckas!"

Mordecai started to lie down "I'll be honest, I wasn't sure to believe you at first, I thought it'd play out like Death Bear did-"

'Oh yeah…Death Bear' It had been a while since Rigby thought about that night. He had always regretted not even trying anything when that monster was barreling for Eileen. They weren't as close back then and he used to think you needed brawn to hold off someone, but he still felt bad, especially after Eileen still thanked him.

"-it's great it worked out" Rigby heard as he snapped back to reality. Mordecai was under the covers giving a quick thumbs up before closing his eyes to fall asleep.

"Ha, thanks man" Rigby replied, hoping he didn't miss anything besides what he assumed was said. Rolling on his back, Rigby stared at the ceiling. 'Man…good thing today wasn't another Death Bear, there wouldn't have been Mordecai or anyone to bail me out…or Eileen. Oh dang! Eileen! She would have been devastated if we didn't save the turtles and no telling what those creeps would have done.' Rigby noticed his fists clenching and his heart picking up speed as his mind started racing until his heart skipped a beat and his thoughts made a soft reset. He sat up '…I like Eileen…' his mind declared 'I mean I've liked her for a while and a lot more since we started hanging out more…but I think I ilike/i her.'

Saying it to himself made it make more sense, things started clicking together: she was sweet, funny, and pretty cool in her way. She always believed in him like no one else did. He wasn't sure of her sincerity at first and was wary of being patronized, but moments like her pull-up training proved her candor. They also shared interests and thoughts much easier than he could with anyone else he knew. And as a result of all that, he had grown protective of her. He hated seeing her hurt and personally knew how her size made her more susceptible to being pushed around. He looked at his sleeping friend 'I wonder what it would be like to be even closer like Mordecai and CJ are…' the recent drama slightly soured the thought but he shook it off 'I'm sure every relationship isn't like that and hey, you work through that stuff. If Mordecai can do it, so can I.'

He glanced over at the clock that read "2:42". 'Oh dang…I'll pick this up during work tomorrow. Hopefully I can get enough sleep to wake up in time…roughly, at least.' And with that he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Goodnight Rigby" Eileen smiled. She decided to put her camping gear away tomorrow and started getting ready for bed. She couldn't help but smile as she changed into her pajamas. The ride home and the hug were the perfect way to end the trip. Those kind of interactions had been getting more and more frequent lately and Eileen couldn't be happier about it.

She started washing up as her thoughts began to wander. 'I almost thought it would never be like this, but now…' she blushed as she remembered the tender moment earlier. She washed her face and as she looked in the mirror, she saw herself a little differently. She usually never out much thought towards her looks, vanity was never her strong suit, but every now and again, she saw glimmers of beauty in her reflection. She did a few different angles and noticed the same glimmers and giggled. She loved these spikes in confidence. She quickly swished her hair back and gave a seductive glance to the mirror.

"Hey, Rigby~" she said as sultry as she could. "Not bad" she giggled. She looked at the clock and saw it was around midnight. 'Not really tired yet…oh well, I got the lunch shift tomorrow, I'll just watch some TV to wind down.' She brewed herself some chamomile and snuggled up on the couch and started flicking through channels. This late at night there was classic horror movies on Svengoolie, old sitcoms, tabloid shows, and the ilk. Eileen eventually found a good travel show and got settled in. The host was doing a three-part special on a round trip of Europe. It had an even mix of quiet gems of the countrysides, city adventures, and moving through Europe with the best sightseeing along the way. Eileen loved these shows, she felt so wistful and adventurous. She sighed "…maybe someday, for now I'll settle with this." After a while she heard keys turning the lock on the door. Margaret walked in and immediately took off her heels and waved to her friend.

"I wasn't expecting you to be up. I was afraid I'd wake you up."

"Just relaxing before bed. How was the broadcast?"

"Pretty good, the story about the turtle spa knocked 'em out. Our ratings have gone flying."

"That's great" Eileen perked.

Margaret walked to her room to get ready for bed. A bit later she came back in bed attire and plopped on the couch.

"What's on?"

"Rick Steves, I wish I could go on adventures like this."

"What are you talking about?" Margaret laughed "You go on adventures all the time!"

"Huh?"

"Don't 'huh?' me! Every time we hang out with Mordecai and Rigby something crazy happens! And you've probably been on a ton while I was away."

"Hmm…I guess you're right..and yeah I've been seeing a lot of them, especially-" then it hit her just how much time she's spent with Rigby. Putting together CJ and Mordecai's date opened the floodgates, after that a stranger would almost think they were dating. Thinking about the whole thing sent her blushing like mad.

"Especially who~?" Margaret smirked. Eileen recognized that tone instantly. It had been a while since they had proper girl talk and she could tell her friend was eager to catch up.

"Especially..Rigby." Here it comes, usually she would be nervous, but when she remembered how confident she was earlier, she felt prepared for anything.

"Oh my gosh, girl! What's going on there~?"

"Well~…we've gotten a lot closer. It started as just talking more often when we were hanging out. But as Mordecai and CJ started spending more time together, Rigby would come to the coffee shop to talk and before I knew it we started hanging out on our own."

"Look at you girl! Now what kind of hanging out are we talking about?" Eileen wasn't used to being the center of conversation. She didn't hate it, it felt kind of flattering. She saw a great opportunity for to quickly have some fun.

"Wouldn't you like to know~?" she said suggestively. The remark had an instant effect on Margaret, who gently froze for a second at what she may just learn.

"…Eileen?.."

"Hmm~?" Eileen felt a little bad for leading her best friend, but this was just too good to pass up.

" ** _Eileen~!?_** " she almost jumped off the couch in disbelief. "What have I missed!?" Seeing her friend's reaction was too much for Eileen, who started to crack up.

Not _that_ much, I promise! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!"

Margaret let out a large sigh "Don't ever scare me like that again!" The two then spent a moment laughing it off. "But seriously, are we talking about just coming over when Mordecai is busy or are you giving him some competition?" Eileen was a little moved at her friend's confidence in her. This is why she loved their friendship, Margaret didn't see her as anything lesser, despite how most people would probably pass over her.

"Well I guess at first it was whenever Mordecai was busy, but it was so often that after a while it felt Rigby wasn't just trying to occupy himself. He even came with me to the Renaissance Fair, set up the TV I won while I was at work as a surprise, and shook off those spa grunts when they had us captive."

Margaret was quietly gushing as her friend relayed the great news. "Eileen, that's wonderful!" she said as she hugged Eileen. "Has he dropped any of 'the hints'?"

"The hints?"

"Y'know, stealing a gaze here and there, finding excuses to sit _right_ next to you, stuff like that. Anything to tell you he may be a bit more interested in you?"

"I…I don't know. I didn't know there were hints! I dunno if I could catch them."

"Hmm…you need a look-out." Margaret then visibly realized the problem in her answer. "But who?..."

Eileen realized that Margaret couldn't between their now desynchronized schedules. The thought bummed her out, Margaret had cheered her on and helped her so much with her crush and she hoped she could help now that things had changed so much. She then thought of a good alternative, but hesitated before saying it.

"What?" Margaret asked "Do you know someone?"

"..I could ask CJ."

"Oh..how much does she know about you two and.. _you two_?" She fidgeted a little.

"A fair bit, she's hung out with us a lot and I'm fairly sure she's caught on that I like him, if not, Mordecai probably told her."

"Okay…well yeah, sounds like she could do it. Do you think she would?"

"Hmmm, probably, she could try at least."

"Well see what she says! You need to know if you should step up your game!"

"I'll ask her next time I see her" Eileen giggled. The time and chamomile caught up with her and she let out a big yawn. "What time is it?"

"Getting close to 2" Margaret answered, a little surprised herself.

"Hoo~, good thing I'm not opening tomorrow." She sighed "I guess we oughta get to bed."

"Yeah…tomorrow's gonna be fun on low sleep. But girl talk is important" she smiled.

"Definitely" Eileen giggled "Goodnight."

"G'night."

-Back to the park-

"Dude…Rigby, wake up."

"Ooooogh…what time is it?"

"8:35, let's try to eat something before work, maybe we'll be less groggy if we do." Rigby had heard that theory before and didn't budge then, but with what he wanted to think about on his mind, he figured it was worth a shot. Now if only he had the energy to get out of bed.

"Okay…push me out…"

"…what?"

"I want to get out of bed, but I can't. Give me a hand and push me out of bed."

"O-kay.." Mordecai said before rolling his sleeping friend off of his trampoline bed. Rigby fell half a foot and thumped onto the ground.

"…Thanks.." He pushed himself up and yawned "okay..let's eat."

The two trudged downstairs into the kitchen "What cereal d'you want: Cap'n Crunch or Apple Jacks?"

"We got any Honey Bunches or something?" It felt weird to turn down his usuals, but he figured if healthy would help, he may as well go extra healthy.

"Uhh..yeah..I think Benson keeps a box in here."

"He won't mind a bowl." Rigby said as Mordecai handed him the box. After they were done, they had woken up more and went out to the porch to start the day.

Work was going by smoothly, Rigby found himself more focused with something to occupy his thoughts. His thoughts mostly kept settling on his newfound feelings. How long were they there? What should he do about it? He knew for certain he wanted to get closer to her, hopefully ask her out. He knew she most likely still liked him, but he didn't wanna take advantage of that, and he had a feeling she wouldn't let him. The thought made him smile and chuckle in the middle of picking up litter.

"What are you laughing at?" Mordecai asked. Rigby didn't catch himself being audible so he jumped a little and quickly tried to weigh how much he should tell.

"Oh, uh..nothing, just thinking about the trip."

"Hmm, it was crazy, I'm glad Eileen got to see the turtles in the end."

"Yeeaah~" Rigby smiled warmly. Mordecai took notice of his reaction and decided to probe a bit further. Rigby had been acting strange all day, and this may be why.

"Speaking of which, how did you two enjoy yourselves? Me and CJ had fun after some serious talk."

"Same, really. Eileen was kinda bummed about the whole Margaret-and-CJ-thing at first. Luckily that solved itself out when y'all called Margaret."

"That's good" disappointed with the lack of juicy info, Mordecai regrouped to think of a better way to get Rigby to spill the beans. Inspiration struck when he checked the time. "Oh hey! It's lunch time already! C'mon, we haven't taken a break all day and we've blasted through today's chores, let's go to the coffee shop!"

Rigby paused for a moment, he hadn't really decided on a game plan for when he next saw Eileen. He was afraid he would get nervous, but he pushed those fears down. 'I'm not gonna get anywhere keeping away from her.' "Yeah man, let's go! It'll be nice to take a break without Benson getting on us for once."

As they got into the cart, Rigby starting psyching himself out 'Don't worry Rigby. Just keep your confidence and everything will go fine.' They parked at the coffee shop and Rigby opened the door to see the one thing that never failed to make his confidence waiver. 'Where's her glasses?'


	3. Chapter 3

Eileen's alarm rang around 7:15 AM, waking up a very tired mole.

"Mmmmmrn, I should't have stayed up so late" she sat up "I didn't know I'd miss _that_ much sleep before work." She looked at the time with a groan, then over to her calendar which read "Lunch Shift" for the day. "…Oh! That's right…" She chuckled in relief 'must have forgot to set my alarm last night.' She gave herself a few more hours on her alarm and fell back on her pillow 'sweet relief, working on 5 hours of sleep wouldn't have been fun. Not to mention talking to CJ about-dang…I should probably text her to see if or when she can talk..' Eileen cracked an eye open to look at her phone on the end table, so close…and yet. Her pillow bade her stay. 'Alright Eileen…get up…now…now?' After a minute of mustering her willpower, she managed to slink over within arm's reach of her phone 'success…" She rolled back on her back and slowly started texting her cloud friend, hoping to get back to bed soon.

Hey, would you be able to meet me today and talk about something? About 10 minutes later, she got a reply.

Sure, my day is fairly open. How serious is it? I hope everything's okay

Don't worry, it's nothing bad. Just want your advice on something

K, when and where? I could come to the coffee shop for lunch or drop by your place after work?

'Hmm…I wouldn't mind her coming by, but Margaret may be a bit off put if she came home to us talking.'

Lunch at the coffee shop sounds good as long as you don't mind waiting a bit for the lunch crowd to thin out

That's fine cya then

See you and thanks

No prob

With that taken care of, Eileen went back to bed.

-Later at the coffee shop-

Eileen started her shift at noon as more people started coming in. Around half-past, Eileen spotted CJ walking in and taking a seat.

"Hey CJ, thanks again for coming."

"Hey E, no p." Eileen wondered if CJ actually talked like this sometimes or if she was just joking.

"Can I get you something while you wait?"

"Sure, thanks. I'll have a BLT and a tea."

"BLTT, gotcha." CJ wondered if Eileen actually talked like this at work or if she was just joking.

A little while later after most everyone was either eating or gone, Eileen took a seat with CJ.

"So what'sup?"

"Okay.." Eileen got her courage up "It's about Rigby."

"Oh? What about him?" CJ looked both deeply interested and a little hesitant.

"I'm sure you know I like him, right?"

"I picked up a little when we all started hanging out" CJ confessed. "If you don't mind me asking, how're things between you two? You guys look pretty close, has he dropped any _Hints_?"

"How does everyone know about 'the hints' but me!?" Eileen wasn't expecting CJ to bring them up first. "That's actually what I was gonna ask you. I wasn't aware they were a thing, so I have no idea what to even look for. So I was wondering if you had noticed anything."

"Hmm, I've not known Rigby as long as you guys, but I do know he's a bit protective of his feelings. I can't even get much from Mordecai and you'd think he'd know out of everyone." Eileen was a little disappointed at the lack of new information, but perked up a little as CJ continued. "However I'm mostly certain there's _something_ there. He hasn't given any of the big Hints, but he's always happy to see you and seems to put more into something when you're involved. Case in point: your flat screen, that was nearly all Rigby and that's not even including Joanne."

"Joanne?" Rigby never fully explained what happened to her, just that she had family matters to tend to. Eileen was nervous at the thought of Rigby possibly doing something reckless to make her leave. "What did he do?"

"He never told you?" CJ asked, a little surprised. This sent Eileen into a sweat, this was gonna be bad.

"When she saw us touch her TV, she ran off with your flat screen. We chased her to a bridge and she nearly threw it over."

Eileen started bracing herself. What did he do? A TV wasn't worth anything too rash and Rigby could be rash when he wasn't careful.

"But then Rigby picked up a megaphone and talked her down. He almost lost his cool when she started throwing around insults about you."

Eileen was stunned, half in relief, half moved.

"So then what happened to Joanne?"

"Her TV accidentally fell off the bridge and then her lawyer's ghost—long story short: she's bound to the life of a business exec."

"Goodness…just wow, I don't know what to say."

" We hardly did too" CJ assured "So what are you planning on doing? I assume that's what you wanted my help with."

"Oh, yeah…well I was wondering if you could be a lookout for any 'Hints'. You hang out with us the most."

"Huh…I think I can do that" CJ smiled.

"Thanks" Eileen said.

"Have you thought of maybe giving him a few hints of your own?"

"…what?" CJ opened her mouth to answer but was cut off. "First I'm supposed to spot subtle signs, now I can send them!?" Eileen was just a little flustered. It made sense, it just never occurred to her.

"Don't worry, it's not too complicated. You just gotta be a little more…honest here and there. Open up your feelings."

Eileen was reminded of the night before when she did just that when Rigby helped bring her things in.

"Oh, okay. That sounds doable. Are there any others?"

"Well, you can always give him something to look at" she winked "but don't do it too big or too much, keep your dignity. Just something little like a cheeky grin or if you're wearing something cute, strut your feathers-" CJ had the face of an epiphany that snapped into a mischievous grin "or~ you could give him a peek of you without your glasses~"

"You know about that?" Eileen remembered when she first overheard Rigby's confession. It wasn't the full "I'm in love!", but it had given her some confidence, which she found was very helpful in getting to know him better.

"You kidding? That's the only thing I can get from Mordecai! I think it could be effective."

"I hope you don't mean walking around with them off. I've tried that one, it didn't work out" Eileen leaned into the table and pretended to have ran into it.

"You don't have to do that, you can just be playful like sliding them down and a wink. Here, lemme show you."

Eileen handed her glasses over and took note of what she could make out of CJ's poses which looked effective, but also a little silly in the current context.

-Also at the coffee shop-

Rigby froze for a second, it had been a while since he had seen her without her glasses. 'Okay, don't worry man. She's still the same sweet, easy-to-talk-to girl…just looking sexy as opposed to her usual cute. Wait, did I just say 'sexy'?" His thoughts were interrupted by Mordecai walking into him.

"Yo, what's the-" Mordecai then spotted what had caught Rigby's attention. 'Checkmate.' He resisted the immediate urge to tease his friend and chose to play the long game. "Oh hey! There's CJ and Eileen. C'mon, let's go talk to them." He said, giving Rigby a nudge.

Rigby walked towards the two trying to keep his cool. He then noticed where Eileen's glasses were.

"You guys swapping places for the day?"

"Nah, just curious what it looked like through these" CJ took a genuine moment to play out the lie. Mordecai took the seat next to CJ.

"You look good in them, you should keep them" Mordecai said in the hopes of extending his friend's nervousness.

"I dunno about that" CJ took off the glasses and rubbed her eyes "I'm sure you guys don't wanna walk around with us stumbling around." She handed the glasses back to Eileen.

"Hello again world" Eileen blinked a few times. "So what brings you two here? I would have thought you came earlier for your break."

"We've actually been pretty productive today, Rigby here's been in the zone" Mordecai said to draw attention to Rigby who had been quieter than usual.

"That's great! I'm glad you've hit a good rhythm." Eileen smiled warmly at Rigby. After hearing the flat screen story and now his work trouble cleared, she was swooning.

Rigby was half-sure Mordecai had planned this setup. But there was no time to think of that. He almost played it off as nothing, but he didn't want Eileen to think he was brushing off her praise. He wasn't sure what his game plan was but he knew he wanted to open up to her more, like he had last night.

"Thanks, I guess something yesterday got me motivated" he returned her a smile, hoping she would understand his reference to their hug.

Eileen wasn't sure if he meant yesterday in general or specifically their moment, either way, it made her happy. Meanwhile CJ and Mordecai took the moment to watch the two. CJ was glad to see her job as lookout wouldn't be too tough and Mordecai was certain he knew what was up with Rigby.

After lunch, Mordecai and Rigby returned to the park and CJ left to run errands. Before she left, she assured Eileen she would keep an eye out and she was certain there'd be something to catch.

Mordecai and Rigby walked into the house to get their litter bags to finish up their work for the day. They were met in the kitchen by Benson sitting at the table eating a bowl of Honey Bunches.

"So the Chuckle Brothers finally decide to clock in. Where have you been?!"

"We just took a quick lunch break" Mordecai explained "we were steaming through work so we figured-"

"You picked up the litter at the front gate?"

*Mm-hmm* Rigby answered.

"The fountain?"

*Hm* Mordecai answered.

"The statue? The woods? The yard around the house?"

*Hm. Hm-hm. Hm.* they both confirmed in unison.

"These bags aren't empty" Rigby revealed.

"Huh…well okay then. Just make sure you finish up" Benson returned to his bunches. Mordecai checked the clock that read 1:24 PM.

"Hey Benson, not for nothing, but cereal in the afternoon?"

"It's been forever since I've had some. I forgot I even had a box here. Someone left it out, so I'm taking my own lunch break. There better not be any missing. Now, that I know it's here, I'm gonna have it for lunch every day."

Mordecai and Rigby just exchanged a nervous glance.

"Welp, back to work, let's go Rigby." The two left the house to where they left off.

"Hmm…" Benson glared after them in suspicion as he ate another spoonful.

-That Night-

"Okay…let's do this" Rigby sighed. It was late at night and Rigby sat at the computer, about to do something he didn't think he'd ever do. The day hadn't proved helpful in brainstorming what to do so he decided to look for advice on the internet for asking a girl out. He had learned a lot after helping Mordecai with Margaret, but there was still the experience factor. "Maybe I should just ask Mordecai" he stalled "He's had plenty of experience, even if they weren't all successes… But I can just hear him not shutting up about 'I told you you liked her **dude**. You can't hide anything from me **dude**! You shoulda just listened to me **DUDE**!'" He exhaled deeply 'Nope, I'll just have to do it the old fashioned way."

He found a good many "How to make any girl weak at the knees"'s, "What girls want"'s, and "Become a chick magnet in X steps"'s, all worthless. He also found a couple good sites, giving him all the good advice…he already knew. Rigby sighed as he realized he wasn't even sure what he was looking for. He felt confident he knew how to ask her out, it was just how he wanted to do it that stumped him. Something like over text wouldn't be right with how much they see each other. On the other hand, going way over the top may be obliging or give off the wrong message.

"Rigby leaned back and gave his eyes a rest from the screen. 'Hmmmm, what to d-" he froze as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. They went off to the kitchen. 'Pops getting a snack?' He waited for the sound to go back upstairs. He held his breath as it stopped at the door. There came a knock.

"Yo dude, you in there?"

'Crap!' Rigby jumped for the mouse to close the incriminating window. 'Wait…what will I tell him I was doing? Staring at the home screen?!" He scrambled to type something that would make sense as he heard Mordecai knock again.

"Rigby, you there? I've checked everywhere else, he's gotta be in here." As he opened the door, the page Rigby opened just finished loading.

"Don't get too close now, Pop." As the rest of the video they had both seen so many times played out and the ostrich kicked the poor man's groin, Rigby let out a chuckle both at his tactic working and the video's humor.

"Really dude? The ostrich thing with the balls? This late?"

"Just had to see it again. Couldn't sleep so I figured I'd watch something" he lied.

"You too, huh? I figured you were awake when you weren't snoring, but after talking to your clothes pile for a bit, I figured you came down for a snack or something."

"What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well, something's been on my mind all day."

"Yeah?"

"Is anything up?"

"Huh?"

"You've been acting a little weird today. You looked like something was on your mind."

'Dang…what now? If I tell him, I'll never hear the end of it. How to get out of this…'

"Well…it's about Eileen…"

"O-oh?!" Mordecai was surprised at Rigby's sudden openness.

"Yeah remember when I told you about how she was bummed out about CJ and Margaret? I've just been wondering how that'll play out."

"Oh…yeah, me too.."

'Looks like that did it. I feel a little bad, using that on him, but for now that oughta get him off my back.'

"Well…I'm feeling tired already…g'night, try not to stay up too late."

"I'll try" and with that Mordecai left for their room.

"Phew…" Looking at the screen, he knew it wasn't the answer. "Who would know how to ask _Eileen_ out? Someone who knows her like like I know Morde-duh! Who else?" He nearly slapped himself for not thinking about it earlier. Now the question was merely how to get ahold of Margaret.


	4. Chapter 4

Work went by smoothly again the next day. With something of a plan in mind, Rigby wasn't as lost in thought while they worked. Today's focus was on the house, taking out the trash, changing any lightbulbs, airing out the rugs, etc. Mordecai and Rigby just pretended they were cleaning up after one of their pizza parties just with higher standards.

"Hey man! We may even get done early!"

"Yeah-yuh! Benson's gonna think we're up to something" Rigby laughed. "Maybe we should pretend we are!" The prospect of the perfect prank excited him.

Mordecai mulled it over for a second, it had some promise. They couldn't get in any trouble because they wouldn't actually do anything.

"It's tempting….naahhh, let's just enjoy him easing up on us."

"Huh, that's funny, I thought you were a blue jay, not a chicken" Rigby taunted with a grin plastered on his face. Mordecai simply stared at his friend nonplussed. It wasn't until the full force of the ridiculous statement started sinking in that he broke his composure and started laughing.

"Dude, please tell me you didn't just say that. How long have you been waiting to use that?"

"Long enough" Rigby replied and joined in Mordecai's laughter. They finished work early as they predicted. Rigby was glad for the time to put his mind towards the task of getting in touch with Margaret. A year or so ago this wouldn't be an issue, he'd just go to the coffee shop.

'How to get in touch with a college girl with a job' Rigby groaned as he made a mental not **not** look _that_ up on the internet.

"Yo dude! Look what I found!" Mordecai walked in carrying their long lost copy of Strong Johns.

"Where was it!?"

"Under the dresser!"

"How'd it get there!?"

"I don't care!"

"You know what we have to do, right!?"

"We have to play it."

"Right now!"

"Yea-oh…ahhh"

"Whaaat?"

"I was actually in the middle of texting CJ…" Mordecai raised his hand with his phone.

"Our long lost son returns to us and you're gonna pass up our reunion!?"

"It's just a ga-"

"Our son! This is just like the time before the unicorns when you ditched it for Marg-!" Rigby then remembered how the game got lost. When Mordecai passed up on it, Rigby hid it under the dresser to spite him and must have eventually forgotten himself. He also realized that Mordecai was still uncomfortable with talking about his former love interest, so he decided to change his approach entirely. "Okay, it's fine. What if we just pause when you text her?"

"Sounds good," The look on Mordecai's face told Rigby that he appreciated the change of subject. "Lemme tell CJ the good news and we can get the snacks ready." He quickly tapped his phone and set it on the table before running into the kitchen. Rigby watched as he left and glanced at his phone on the table.

'He always seems to be texting a girl. Although I guess he didn't text Margaret this much…' he smacked his head 'c'mon this should've been obvious! Just text her!...I just need her number…' He returned his gaze to Mordecai's phone, the blue jay had left the room only a minute ago. '…If I'm gonna do it, it has to be now.' He picked up the phone and swiped his finger to open it hoping there was 2 or 5 minute period before it locked.

No such luck.

'I'll just have to guess it…I guess.' The wallpaper was a pic of CJ. 'Would he?...He might. Well I don't know their anniversary or her birthday…maybe he wouldn't be that obvious, he likes to be clever…the New Year's party! Basically what started their relationship!' He entered "1231". The phone buzzed in denial. 'Okay…hmm, well they technically kissed at midnight. Let's try 11-' he was interrupted by a text from CJ.

Strong Johns? Taking it old school, ain't we? Do you wanna talk later about my little talk with…

"…No" Rigby sighed "it'd be wrong to go through his phone. 'sides he'd get suspicious if he didn't see this text when it came." He set it back in its place and started to set up the game system. Mordecai returned with chips, sodas, and pretzels in hand and set them on the table.

"Snacks ready!'

"Game's ready! Also CJ texted you."

"Oh, thanks" Mordecai looked intrigued at the text, but quickly hid his expressions. "Alright! Let's play some Strong Johns!"

They played for the rest of the afternoon. Whenever Mordecai got a text he quickly replied with his full attention before returning to the game. Around the time they would usually get off work, Benson came walking in with his clipboard. When he looked up to see the two lounging, his trademark shade of red started to come over his face.

"And what have you two been up to!?"

"Strong Johns! Mordecai fou-"

"UP-BUP-BUP! You better have the perfect reason for slacking off! Mr. Mallard is coming this evening for a very important meeting!"

"No worries Benson. We took care of the whole house" Mordecai assured.

"…I'm slightly inclined to believe you after yesterday…" Benson said with hesitation.

"C'mon Benson, take a look around. The place is spotless" Rigby boasted.

"I will admit everything _seems_ to be alright…fine I'll cut you two some slack, but I better not find **anything** out of order" he stressed "and that goes double for Mr. Mallard."

"Scout's honor" Rigby said, faking the salute.

Benson sighed "Whatever, either way you two need to put this stuff up and go out so Mr. Mallard and his guests won't be interrupted.

"Whoa what?! We live here and he's just gonna kick us out?"

"Just calm down, it's only for the evening, and it _is_ his house. At least you don't have to stay here late and do all the work at one of those meetings."

"Dang…that blows" Mordecai offered.

"Yeah man, he doesn't pay you enough to put up with that."

"You got that right" Benson sighed. "Anyway, I suggest you find something to do, go catch a movie, anything."

"Oh hey! There is that new monster movie reboot!" Rigby suggested.

"Oh uh…actually I think I may just hang out with CJ, I think she wants to talk about something important."

"Oh what?"

"Sorry dude, bad timing" Mordecai shrugged.

"Fine, I'll figure _something_ out." The two then cleaned up the table. Afterwards Mordecai left, leaving Rigby to find some way to spend the evening.

'I still wanna see a movie…oh!' Rigby remembered Eileen. Ever since they started hanging out, they often watched movies, especially when Mordecai left Rigby high and dry like today. 'It's been a while since we've watched a movie' He pulled out his phone and texted Eileen.

Yo Eileen! We have to be out of the house for a bit, would you wanna watch a movie? He went to the kitchen to snack a bit while he waited for a reply. A minute or two later his phone buzzed.

Sure What movie were you thinking of watching? Rigby smiled, happy that he would be spending the evening with Eileen instead of having to hang around the park alone or something.

Dunno yet, what's a movie that's just fun to watch? The next text took a bit.

Have you ever heard of Labyrinth?

All I know is "You remind me of the babe".

Sound good?

Sure

So when can I expect you?

I'll be leaving in a bit

Okay, see you then, door's open

Rigby sighed. Tonight was going to be much better than he first thought.

-At the coffee shop-

Work at the coffee shop was going well. There was a decent sized crowd and Eileen had no trouble getting into her stride. When she went on her lunch break she saw a text from CJ.

So I've been thinking of doing something and I need your thoughts before I do it

Okay, what is it?

Would it be okay if I enlisted Mordecai's help with being a lookout? He may be able to get more out of Rigby when I'm not around. It's totally up to you

'Hmmmm…would that be right?…'

Wouldn't that be like spying? As much as Eileen _would_ like to know for certain what Rigby thought of her, she knew getting his best friend to gain his confidence and then spill the beans wouldn't be right.

Don't worry, I was just thinking like "you're getting warmer"

'Hmmm…I suppose that's not as bad.'

Okay, as long as we keep it at that

Promise I'll see what he says

'Goodness…I just hope this all works out.' For the rest of her shift, her mind would wander to thinking about if it did work out. She wasn't exactly sure what to expect. She was glad that the puppy dog infatuation phase of her crush had faded, that gave a much lower chance of their potential relationship being one-sided. But what about Rigby? They were pretty close already, but would he open up even more to her right away or would it take time to ease into that? How affectionate would he be? She couldn't imagine him being overly lovey-dovey, but was certain he wouldn't be cold and aloof. Would they stay up late texting or calling each other? Would they have a song? Would they ever have-

Eileen snapped back and decided to think about this later when she didn't have to worry about work.

-Later at Eileen's house-

Eileen kicked off her shoes, threw her apron in the hamper, and put away her tips for the day. She let out a tired sigh.

"Now what to do for the rest of the day?" She was going through different options in her head when she got a text from Margaret.

Hey, can you check and see if I left a folder on my bed? If it is, I can get it when I come home between broadcasts Eileen walked across the door to see a folder on the foot of the bed.

It's here

Yo Eileen! We have to be out of the house for a bit, would you wanna watch a movie?

"Huh?" Eileen did a double-take, but then saw that this text was from Rigby. She already knew her answer so she decided to let Margaret know.

Just letting you know me and Rigby will be watching a movie when you get here

Thank you! Oh~? Whatcha watching? Eileen then remembered to text Rigby.

Sure What movie were you thinking of watching?

Dunno yet, what's a movie that's just fun to watch? Eileen tried thinking of a good candidate but drew a blank.

'We've seen so many, it's hard to think of new ones…maybe Margaret knows some.'

We don't know yet, do you know any good fun-to-watch movies?

Have you seen Gremlins?

Yes

Ghostbusters?

Both

Longest Weekend? Jk never again

I still don't fully understand what happened to Starla

Oh there's this good one I saw while I was away called Labyrinth

Oooh! Sounds interesting, thanks Margaret!

Np ^u^ Eileen went back to texting Rigby to run the option by him.

Have you ever heard of Labyrinth?

All I know is "You remind me of the babe".

Sound good?

Sure

So when can I expect you?

I'll be leaving in a bit

Okay, see you then, door's open Eileen smiled; she was glad to hang out with him. She gave the living room a once-over to make sure it was decent. She then remembered she was still in her work clothes and wanted to take a shower before she got settled in for the evening.

'I should hop in now if I wanna get out before Rigby gets here'

-Back at the park-

Rigby was glad to see that Mordecai hadn't taken the cart and made his way to Eileen's. He came inside but didn't see Eileen anywhere. He saw the bathroom door closed and figured she'd be finished in a minute. 8 minutes later, he started getting curious.

'The lights were on when I got here and all her stuff is here…maybe she's in her room?' her door was cracked open and the room was empty. He went to knock on the bathroom door when Eileen came out wrapped in a towel. One second Rigby froze in his tracks and felt all the heat in his body rush to his face. The next second Eileen turned to go to her room, faced Rigby, and froze herself. A few blinks later, Rigby shot his hands up to cover his eyes and Eileen took a step back into the bathroom.

"Sorry! Eileen I'm sorry! I thought you were just using-!"

"How long have you been here!? I wasn't expecting-!" They both talked over each other for a moment.

"Okay, I'll just go back to the living room and you can change" Rigby said as he felt his way back to the living room with one hand on the wall.

"Sorry Rigby, I'll be out in a minute…" Eileen said glumly. She went to her room and changed into her house clothes. 'Way to go Eileen…he didn't come here to see _that_ ' she sighed. 'Hopefully we can just forget it happened…'

Rigby waited on the couch and tried to settle his thoughts. 'Dangit Rigby! You just had to go snooping, now you've upset her!' Rigby groaned at himself. 'I just hope she doesn't think I was trying to peep.' This thought was particularly troublesome to him. Rigby greatly respected her and didn't want Eileen to suspect otherwise. Eileen came out with her laptop open and started hooking it up to the TV. Neither said anything and the silence was killing Rigby. 'What should I even say? I could just pretend it didn't happen…but that wouldn't help. She deserves more than that.' Eileen finished hooking up the laptop and started walking towards the couch when Rigby got up and stopped her halfway.

"Eileen?...Look I'm sorry I should've announced myself, I thought you were just using the bathroom. I didn't mean to walk in on you when you were…y'know… Can you forgive me?" Rigby was a little surprised at himself. This was possibly the most heartfelt he's been but the words just came out. Eileen was both shocked and moved by what Rigby said. After it sank in she couldn't help but smile.

"It's okay Rigby, I know you didn't mean to. Of course I forgive you." Rigby returned her smile and gave her a big hug. Eileen hugged back and was relieved that she hadn't messed anything up and they weren't uncomfortable with each other. "Now let's watch this movie."

"Yeah-yuh!" they both got settled in and watched the movie that could only be described as "80's". They sat next to each other and they'd talk and laugh here and there. Once the movie had taken more of their attention, Rigby's thoughts began to relax and wander.

'Man today's not been too bad. Mordecai ditched me, but then I got to hang out with Eileen. I still can't believe I walked in on her coming out of the shower.' Rigby looked over to her 'Thank goodness it wasn't too bad…' Rigby was proud of the way he handled the situation so the possibility of worse outcomes came and went lightly. But then his thoughts turned to if she hadn't come out with as much covered up as she did. Rigby blushed and tried to push away the thoughts. Try as he might, however, the image he caught of her kept popping up. It wasn't anything you'd find in a dirty mag, but Eileen's modest looks still deserved notice, especially to Rigby. He then became conscious of how close he was to the girl he liked and was increasingly attracted to. Eileen noticed Rigby fidgeting and giving her an occasional glance.

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Hmm? Oh! Uh, nah. Just got a crick in my back" Rigby lied.

"Oh! I'll get you an ice pack."

"Th-thanks Eileen." As Eileen was in the other room, Rigby paused the movie and tried to control his breath to calm down. He heard the door open and saw Margaret walk in.

"Oh! Hey Margaret."

"Hey Rigby, how're you enjoying Labyrinth?" Margaret kicked off her shoes.

"It's pretty cool. Wait how'd you know what we were watching?"

"I suggested it, I had a feeling you two'd like it."

"Oh…oh!" Rigby then realized that he was talking to the exact person he was trying to get ahold of earlier today. He got up and approached her. "Hey Margaret…this'll sound weird but…can I have your number? There's something I wanna talk about?"

"Oh?...What about?" Margaret was visibly intrigued.

"Uhh…well…" Rigby wasn't sure how if he wanted to get it now.

"Oh hey Margaret!" Rigby heard from behind. He stiffened and his eyes grew wide for a second before he turned around. Margaret was able to get the message.

"Hey Eileen!" Margaret grinned knowingly.

"Here's your ice pack Rigby."

"Thanks Eileen" Rigby said as he pressed the pack to his lower back. He cringed a bit as he did so, hoping nobody would see through his charade.

"Would you wanna watch the movie with us?" Eileen invited.

"Hmmm, sure" Margaret smiled. "Lemme just grabb a soda." As she went into the other room, she grabbed a notepad and scribbled her number and the times of day she was available. She walked back in to see the two on the couch and opted for the seat to leave them alone together. After the movie was over, Margaret got up "Welp, back to work."

"I thought you just got off work" Rigby puzzled.

"They got me on the 11 o'clock broadcast too most nights. Oh! I almost forgot my notes."

"I'll get them" Eileen volunteered. Margaret watched her go before pulling out her note and handing it to Rigby.

"If this is what I think it is, you better be serious about it." Eileen returned with the folder and Margaret went on her way. ""Don't have too much fun you two!"


End file.
